Holding means for picture supports

ABSTRACT

A picture supporting hook or nail is equipped with a temporary holder which enables the user to position the hook or nail on the wall at a safe distance from the fingers while hammering. The temporary holder also prevents separation of the hook and nail accidentally prior to hammering and greatly facilitates the handling of these small parts. After hammering, the holder is stripped away and discarded.

O United States Patent [11,] 3,599,636

[72] Inventor David Meade P eebles [56] References Cited 3Z5 Marcy Ave., Oxon Hill, Md. 20021 UNITED STATES PATENTS.

' I P 1,049, 28 12/1912 Moore 248/301 [22] Filed Sept. 17, 1969 435 885 "922 I isroth. 145/46 [45] Patented Aug. 17, 1971 3 060 442 10 [1962 Tomek 145/46 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 3 l 46 981 9/1964 wh I 248,498 711 335 Mar. 7 1968 now abandoned.

3,250,308 5/1966 March 145/46 Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney-B. P. Fishburne, Jr. [54] HOLDING MEANS FOR PICTURE SUPPORTS 2 ClalmsADrawing I v 1 ABSTRACT: A picture supporting hook or nail is equipped [52] US. Cl..' 145/46, with a temporary holder which enables the user to position the 248/217, 248/301, 248/497 hook or nail on the wall at a safe distance from the fingers [51] Int. Cl A47h 1/16 while hammering. The temporary holder also prevents separa- [50] Field of Search 248/301, tion of the hook and nail accidentally prior to hammering and greatly facilitates the handling of these small parts. After hammering, the holder is stripped away and discarded.

PATENTED mm 7191:

FIG. IA

FlG.l.

F I G. 3.

INVENTOR DAVID MEADE PEEBLES BY a 7W.

ATTORNEY .IIOLDING MEANS FOR PICTURE SUPPORTS This application is j a continuation-in-part of my prior copending application Ser. No. 711,335, filed Mar. 7, 1968, now abandoned for SUPPORT FOR PICTURES AND THE LIKE.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a safe holder for small picture books and nails which greatly facilitates the handling of these small parts during nailing and eliminates almost entirely the hazard of striking the fingers with the hammer or dropping as frequently occurs when the hook or nail is grasped by the fingers directly. The holder embodying the invention exerts a light clamping action or the nail prior to removal and thus tends to prevent separation and loss of the small components. The temporary holder is formed of very inexpensive materials so that it can be economically discarded after being stripped away from the nail when the nail is driven into the wall and the holder has served its intended purpose.

The various features and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES.

. FIG. 1 is a central vertical section through a tubular holder :fOI' a picture hook and nail in accordance with one form of the invention.

FIG.'1A is a view similar'to FIG. 1 and showing a different and preferred form of picture hook for use with the tubular holder.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in'FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary central vertical section through a modified form of temporary holder-for a nail or the like.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring first to'FIGS. l and 2 of the drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts, the numeral designates a conventional metal supporting hook of the type employed to support a picture or mirror on a wall surface. The hook is provided in its top with an eye 1 1 receiving therethrough loosely a nail or tack 12. These small parts tend to separate easily prior to driving the nail into the wall and are inconvenient to handle with the fingers and frequently the fingers are injured during driving the nail, or the hook is dropped.

- To overcome these problems, there is provided a thin walled tube holder 13 of any desired length formed of paper plastic or the like. The construction of the tubeholder is similar to the construction of an ordinary drinking straw. Preferably the tube holder is one or more inches long so that the users fingers are relatively remote from the nail 12 while the nail is being driven into the wall.

The hook 10 may have a somewhat snug fit in the open top end of the holder 13 and the tube holder is preferably slit through longitudinally for a slight distance adjacent to its top end, as indicated at 14. In some cases, this slitting may be omitted and the nail 12 may simply engage through a small angled aperture formed in the top portion of the tube holder. The upper end of the tube holder may be beveled as at 15 parallel to the angle of the eye I I. The tube holder preferably exerts a slight gripping force on the nail 12 at each sidewall of the holder through which the nail 12 extends. The nail penetrates through the tube holder as close as possible to the top end of the holder to facilitate removing the holder from the nail and hook after the driving of the nail is substantially completed.

In use, the tube holder 13 is grasped with the fingers near its lower end and is placed vertically against a wall surface with the book 10 and nail 12 arranged as shown. A hammer is then employed to drive the nail safely into the wall while the tube holder continues to be held and stabilized. When the nail is firmly into the wall, the tube holder 13 is pulled downwardly of the to and stripped from the nail and the slits 14 will facilitate the easy separation of holder and nail. The hook 10 will pass out of the tube holder as the latter is pulled downward y.'If the slits 14 are not present, the thin walled tube holder will simply give and tear near its top to permit stripping from the nail. The final driving of the nail into the wall may. then be completed if necessary without touching the parts with the fingers.

Consequently, it may be seen that the temporary tube holder 13 serves several useful purposes. First, it protects the fingers from injury during nail driving. Secondly, it prevents premature separation and loss of the small metal parts and, thirdly, the holder positions the nail and hook in a very stable manner and in the correct angular relationship to the wall preparatory to driving the nail. The holder is formed of such inexpensive material that it does not add any appreciable cost to the picture support and maybe discarded after one use, if desired, although in the case of a plastic tube having a preformed slit 14, there is no reason why the holder may not be salvaged and reused.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the invention wherein the picture support is a straight nail or tack 16 having a Washer 17 welded thereto. The temporary holder for the, nail is in the fonn of an elongated strip or section 18 of a lightweight inexpensive plastic foam, such as polypropylene foam, polyurethane or the like. Such foam material is very inexpensive in small sections and has sufficient strength to serve as a holder for the nail during driving. After driving the nail into the wall firmly, the foam holder 18 is merely stripped or torn away from the nail, the nail penetrating through the holder-very close to the top end thereof, as shown in FIG. 3. The modification in FIG. 3 possesses substantially the same advantages and serves the same purpose as the temporary tube holder in FIGS. 1 and 2. Both forms of holder may be made in various sizes for supporting nails of almost any size, with or without hook elements associatedtherewith. p

FIG. 1A illustrates substantially the same invention as FIG. 1 but incorporates a different and preferred form of picture hook or support 10' having an upper head 11' apertured to receive a nail 12 at a proper angle of inclination. All other components identified 13', 14 and 15' correspond in purpose and function to the corresponding components in FIGS. 1 and I It is thought that the various features and advantages of the invention have now been made clear and that no further description is necessary to a full understanding of the invention.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

l. A temporary holder and a picture hook and nail assembly comprising an elongated thin walled tubular member formed of relatively stiff resilient material and having a picture hook of a given size snuglyand releasably received within the bore of said tubular member, said tubular member provided in one end with a slit opening through said one end, said slit being substantially diametrical of the tubular member and being cut diagonally therethrough from side-to-side of the tubular member with respect to the central axis thereof, said slit adapted to receive and embrace a diagonal nail forming a part of said hook and nail assembly and allowing the tubular member to be stripped bodily from the nail and withdrawn from the picture hook, subsequent to using the holder to position the hook and nail assembly for driving the nail into a wall.

2. The structure of claim 1 and said tubular member formed of plastic and having its upper end cut off diagonally and substantially parallel to the bottom of said slit. 

1. A temporary holder and a picture hook and nail assembly comprising an elongated thin walled tubular member formed of relatively stiff resilient material and having a picture hook of a given size snugly and releasably received within the bore of said tubular member, said tubular memBer provided in one end with a slit opening through said one end, said slit being substantially diametrical of the tubular member and being cut diagonally therethrough from side-to-side of the tubular member with respect to the central axis thereof, said slit adapted to receive and embrace a diagonal nail forming a part of said hook and nail assembly and allowing the tubular member to be stripped bodily from the nail and withdrawn from the picture hook, subsequent to using the holder to position the hook and nail assembly for driving the nail into a wall.
 2. The structure of claim 1 and said tubular member formed of plastic and having its upper end cut off diagonally and substantially parallel to the bottom of said slit. 